Fancy meeting you here
by Dana-Eliza
Summary: Collab with xLoveless19. Finally Itachi is pursuing his own dreams instead of his parents'. His first day at Akatsuki University seemed to be going well. That is until an extreme art major student going by the name of Deidara barges into his life and turns it completey upside down. ItaDei, yaoi, M-rated for later chapters.


Hello guys! I've started a new ItaDei fic, which I am pretty excited about, but this time it is a collab with my lovely friend xLoveless19. Check out her profile and go read her fics as well, although you won't find any ItaDei there... Yes, I am trying to convert her. Now enjoy!

And this is how Loveless thinks I talk to my readers XD:

**Hello my darling readers! It is I, your lord and master, Dana! I am here today with a new collab with a friend xLoveless19 who has so graciously decided to do an ItaDei fic with me, so I hope you all enjoy!**

Itachi = Loveless

_Deidara = Dana_

...

So this was Akatsuki University. It was much different than he had expected it to be. Itachi walked down the halls with his class schedule in hand, eyes searching for the room his English class would be in. Room B543 on the third floor.

Just as he was considering asking another student where it could be, his eyes spotted it all the way down the hall on the left. He passed other students trying to find their own classes and walked into his own. Already there were a few students mingling and getting settled in. Itachi liked to be among the first to arrive to have first pick of where to sit. And he liked to sit in the middle near the window, and lucky for him, a seat was open.

He set his bag down, then took his seat and busied himself by pulling out his book and notepad. A few more students trickled into the room. Some seemed to already be friends and chatting with each other, and others were by themselves just like him. It was quite quiet and peaceful, and so far it seemed liked a nice start to a new year. That is until a very loud blonde student came barging in.

Itachi only observed him for a about a moment, taking in his appearance then looking away out the window. He looked like one of those extreme art types with his attire.

_Just his luck. Rent was due and he still hadn't been able to find a roommate. Deidara had to admit that at first he hadn't been looking as frequent as he should've, but now he had practically asked every person he knew. Why did it have to be so expensive? He couldn't apply for student loans, because he couldn't pay them back. That was the problem. He couldn't be in debt. _

_Frustrated he continued on, backpack flung over his shoulder, determined expression faced forward. With long strides he made his way to the classroom, a class he really didn't care for. It was that they were mandatory, otherwise he would've stayed home. Next time maybe he will. First see how much the teacher cares. He definitely had better stuff to do than sit in this classroom, doodling away in his notepad._

_Blue eyes scanned the room for a moment, seeing how many people were already judging him on his stained clothes, paint and clay residue covering his overalls. Yeah, it wasn't the best look, but it wasn't like he truly cared anyway. Otherwise his hairstyle would definitely not have looked like this. But he loved the length of it._

_Then his eyes fell on someone he knew he hadn't asked yet to be his roommate! 'Hey, man!' he called out, making his way towards the table the other was behind. 'Are you looking for a place to stay still?' Immediately he got shot down, the guy commenting on how he wasn't gay. As if Deidara had asked him that? But he was done with this conversation by now. _

'_Why doesn't anyone want to be my roommate?!' he called out to no one in particular, hoping someone would respond, but everyone stayed quiet. Or more like started to whisper among themselves. _

_But then Deidara noticed the new guy. This could work out perfectly. The guy wasn't aware that he was messy, had a bad temper and that he had many roommates before him. This was the solution. Deidara walked over and stood right in front of the guy's desk, noting that he was well groomed and looked a little too… neat. Maybe he could help Deidara clean up the mess. 'Hey,' he greeted with a crooked smile, deciding that befriending would be a good strategy first._

Itachi barely turned his head to even regard the blonde in front of him. He heard his outburst about no one wanting to be his roommate. He had hoped since being new, no one would really bother him, but it looked like that turned out to be wrong. And he was a hundred percent sure he knew exactly what this guy was about to ask him. Hopefully he was wrong though, and he could send the guy on his way and then be left alone.

'What?'

_Well, that was rude. Deidara's eyes narrowed slightly as he stared down at the raven, not really appreciating the way he was looked at and was addressed. Not even a simple hello? Seriously, could someone be more full of himself? 'Never mind, man,' he began and then turned away, hoisting his backpack up a little higher on his shoulder. 'Good luck finding friends with that attitude, mister I'm too good for everyone else.' He then turned away and chose the seat in front of the guy to sit. _

'I didn't come here for friends.' Itachi stated, a little irked that the blonde decided to take his seat _right in front _of him. He couldn't of picked a seat on the other side of the room? There were still plenty of seats opened. Itachi opened his book to distract himself, and so he wouldn't have to look at the back of the blonde's head. 'Good luck finding a roommate.' That last part was not meant for any good intentions, it was more of a snide jab.

_It was obvious the guy hadn't come here for friends. What an ass. But Deidara decided it wasn't worth it to respond to that, until the guy opened his mouth again. Really? He whipped around, hair practically flying around until he was glaring at the raven again. 'And good luck with living in the dorms. At least I won't be bothered by sex noises late at night or be afraid of the mold monster from the fridge attacking me. You'll be begging me for a place to stay in a few days.' It was a bluff of course, but no one spoke badly of him like that. _

What a fiery personality. The exact kind that were the most annoying. He would of scoffed at him, but he did have a bit of a point...His eyebrow twitched slightly at the thought of his own roommate he had met a couple days prior. He had only been here for about three days, just settling in before classes started, and Hidan had proved to be a horrid roommate in less than an hour upon first meeting him.

Drunk off his ass, loud and obnoxious with his foul mouth, and even bringing home a girl on the second night. Not to mention, the rooms weren't all that clean. Not that he was a neat freak or OCD. He just liked living in a clean and organized environment. And living with Hidan for a full year?

No...

With a withering look and tight frown, Itachi decided to just give this a chance. 'What apartment complex are you living in?'

_Well, that was a quick turnaround. With a smirk on his lips Deidara turned to face the raven, leaning back in his seat and just stare at the other for a moment. 'I see you decided you didn't want to regret your decision of blowing me of,' he said mockingly. Deidara actually hadn't thought that the guy would change his mind this quick and was contemplating if he wanted to room with the blonde. Now he just needed a way to sell the place, because well, it didn't look that appealing and it wasn't as close by as the dorms were. Although that could also be seen as a plus._

_'Just a subway ride away,' he started. 'I live closer to the town's centre and mostly couples live there, so no partying deep in the night and also no sex noises filtering through the walls. I was glad to be out of the dorms.' Hopefully this would be enough information for the raven, because he wasn't sure if he had other means to sell it._

Really now? The distance wasn't so bad and he could afford taking the subway back and forth. Probably the only pressing issue was finding a part time job to help pay half of the rent. Itachi took out a blank piece of paper to start writing down this information.

'Alright. How much is rent every month? Also, is it alright if I visit the apartment first to see what it looks like?'

_Shit, he wanted to see the place... Not so good for Deidara, but maybe he could make the place appear a little better than it was. He hadn't used the second bedroom, so that was still clean. That should at least help, hopefully... Deidara took the paper and read the information. 'Well, Itachi,' he started, finally knowing the guy's name. 'It's 900 bucks a months and of course, I'll give you a grand tour.' He grabbed a paper of his own and scribbled down his name, phone number and of course the address of the place. 'I work most evenings, but if you just give me a call on when you can visit, then I'll check if I'm home,' he said with a kind smile, handing over his information._

Accepting the paper back, Itachi skimmed over the information quickly of Deidara's address and phone number and nodded. So splitting the rent between then wouldn't be so bad. 'Just so you know if I accept your offer I will need to find a job. I have some money saved away in my bank account to last me for a couple months, but I'll need to find work as soon as possible.' Itachi folded the paper neatly and slipped it into his English folder. 'How about tomorrow after classes. Are you working tomorrow?'

Itachi would like to get a good look at this apartment before he made his final decision. The only thing that concerned him slightly was the type of roommate this person was. A thought dawned on Itachi once he realized something. 'By the way, I don't think you've told me your name yet.'

_Finding a job wasn't that difficult, depending on what you were willing to do. Of course most fun jobs were already taken, although Deidara did like his job. Sometimes it could be horrible, getting hit on by creepy people, but other than that it was fun to be around people that didn't judge right away... _

_'Well, I could help you out with a job, but it depends on what kind of experience you have and what kind of job you're looking for,' he replied, biting his lip as he thought about putting in a good word with his boss. It might not be a problem to get Itachi to work there since the guy was really good looking. That would immediately get you hired. But it was more about what kind of job it was._

_'Tomorrow I'm off though, so you can stop by my place and check it out. I could give you a small tour through town if you'd like.' Maybe if he could just make the outside appear better, the inside of the apartment wouldn't matter! 'And I'm Deidara,' he then added with an enthusiastic smile. 'And one day you'll want my autograph.'_

'That would be much appreciated.' Since arriving Itachi hadn't really had much of a chance to explore the town or city much. He had been too busy. And if he got help finding a job, even better. His lips twitched slightly when he was given the other's name. He was definitely an interesting one. Now Itachi could only hope that he could live with a person like him.

Just as he was about to confirm he'd be showing up tomorrow, the professor walked in. The classroom was packed with students now and Itachi was a little surprised to not have noticed the seats filling up around him. The class quieted down as the professor wrote on the board.

'I'll come by after classes tomorrow. Here's my number.' Itachi quickly wrote his cell phone down and handed it to Deidara. Then he sat back in his seat ready to direct all of his attention onto the man standing up front, promptly ignoring everyone else around him.

_Deidara raised an eyebrow at Itachi as the guy hurried through writing down his number as he explained what for. He didn't care much for the professor walking in and starting class. He usually spend his time doodling through them until an interesting subject came up. Not that much interested him. Even with his chosen major he only liked a few things, but these standard classes were just a bore. Why did they even need Math or English? He could speak English fine and he wasn't about to write a book. _

_Flipping out his phone he added Itachi's number to his contacts and then proceeded to text him, thinking it would be easy to give him his number as well, adding a little message saying that Itachi should call him when he was almost there, so that Deidara would be prepared. The rest of the class he spend doodling in his notebook, finishing of one of his drawings._

* * *

Throughout the day, no matter how hard he tried, Itachi couldn't focus very well in any of his classes. His mind was more absorbed in his shaky decision to move out of the dorms. He didn't want to live with Hidan, that much was for sure. But he could just request to switch dormmates too.

However, living in an apartment sounded ten times better than in a dorm. There'd be more space given and he wouldn't have to hear students right next door to them playing music late into the night or partying like drunk assholes. Hopefully Deidara was nothing like Hidan. Moving out here was already stressful enough, he didn't want any more on his plate.

Itachi uncharacteristically sagged a little bit in his seat while watching the scenery rush by through the window. Despite being here now, he couldn't help but wonder if this was the right choice. Should he have left home to pursue what he wanted? Or would of it had been best to follow the future laid out for him?

Anyone else would of said to follow your dreams, but most were too ignorant to realize that sometimes that came at a great cost. His parents haven't said a word to him since he'd left. And Sasuke...his dear baby brother, hasn't contacted him at all aside from one text message he received the other day insisting he come home.

Not only did his decision have heavy consequences on himself, but the worst of it was probably being dumped onto Sasuke. With him out of the way, all the family pressures will fall on him. The guilt he felt was immense. He had no idea how Sasuke felt about all of this. He hadn't even told him about leaving until a couple of days beforehand after a huge fight between him and their father.

The only thing Itachi felt like he could do for Sasuke is give him all the support he'd need if he too chose to break away from the path their family wanted from them. But there was no way to tell if Sasuke would even do that. He was still only in high school, who knew what he wanted to do with his life. If anything, the only regret Itachi really had was leaving Sasuke behind to deal with the mess he had caused. He hoped his brother could maybe forgive him for that.

With a deep sigh, Itachi took his phone out. He had called Deidara before he had left campus but the other hadn't answered. Itachi scrolled through his inbox and found his text he had sent so he'd have his number in his phone and sent a quick text letting him know he'd be there in a few more minutes. The man had better be there.

Just as he was about to put his cell phone away, Itachi saw the text message from Sasuke again. He hadn't responded to it and wondered if he even should. His thumb inched towards the reply button when the bus came to a halt. He looked up and noticed that it was his stop. Itachi put the phone away and grabbed his bag and walked off the bus.

As the bus took off, he looked at the surrounding area. It looked like a pretty decent area and neighborhood. In front of him was the apartment complex, and it looked nice enough. Itachi walked up the steps and stood in front of the door and knocked.

_Of course Deidara hadn't been paying attention to his phone or what time it was. He barely knew what day it was really. He had skipped morning classes and had decided this time was better spend painting. So that was what he was currently doing, in the living room, staining the wooden floor with more paint splatters as he went. At least it looked better than the crappy floor itself. _

_Thankfully he had taken a break when Itachi texted him, because he would never have heard with his music blasting away through the headphones. But now that the text said that Itachi was almost there, Deidara freaked. He hadn't done shit to clean this place yet and well, it was due. Clothes scattered everywhere, because Deidara just took everything of as he moved through the house and only washed it when he was truly out of clean things. _

_Throwing everything he had been busy with to the side, Deidara ran through the house, grabbing every piece of clothing he could find and flinging it into his room. Next were the leftovers of food. Everything was dumped in the bin and soon it was full, things stacked upon it. Even after everything was out of the way, the place still didn't look great. Paint was chipping off the walls, furniture worn out and stains everywhere. How was he going to sell this place? At least the room Itachi would be in should be clean. Deidara hadn't been there._

_Worrying a little now Deidara sat down on the couch, hands fidgeting as he waited on the doorbell to ring._

_When it did ring Deidara jumped up from his seat and looked around his apartment as if something was going to attack him, but when everything looked right, he just sighed deeply and whipped his hands on his clothes. His very paint stained clothes... Damn, he should've changed. _

_Since the buzzing system was again broke and the landlord didn't bother fixing it, Deidara had to walk down to open the door for Itachi. The narrow stairs was worn out from frequent use and the handle bar was long gone, making it not very safe to go up and down. Putting on his best fake smile Deidara took the last few steps and then opened the door for Itachi. 'Hey, glad you could make it,' he said happily._

'Thank you...' Itachi greeted, slowly scrutinizing the blonde man in front of him. He looked like an utter mess, but Itachi would let that pass. 'Are you doing an art project for one of your classes?' He stepped inside and glanced around briefly.

Nothing really notable. Really the only thing that stuck out like a sore thumb was Deidara's attire. He looked like a rainbow had a horrific train wreck all over his shirt and jeans. But he wouldn't judge since he was an artsy type and the art types were known to be a little...messy and eccentric. Hopefully the apartment wasn't a mess though. Itachi wasn't too sure how'd he take it with paint all over the floor and walls. Hopefully the moron was smart enough to put newspapers down on the floors.

_An art project for a class? Deidara looked down at his clothes again, of course knowing what they looked like, but they kind of looked like this all the time. 'No, uhh, just working on something for myself,' he replied and then turned around to walk up the stairs. This guy really wasn't someone to talk a lot to. Not even small talk? If they were going to be roommates, then there had to be some kind of friendly bond, right? _

_Although they didn't have to, as long as they got along and could obey rules they both had. 'Follow me, the place is one stairs up,' he said as he was already walking up the narrow stairs. He forgot to warn about how there wasn't a handle and how some of the steps weren't even. He was just so used to it..._

Itachi followed the blonde up the stairs and to his apartment door. Once they were inside his apartment, Itachi took one step into the place and stopped and immediately saw the mess in the middle of the room. Well he already knew he had been painting but this was a bit of a bigger mess than he had envisioned. With a critical eye, Itachi scanned the room, taking in everything. One thing was for sure, Deidara was a slob. Itachi hoped not all the rooms looked like this. Was the room he'd be given be a mess or would it actually be clean?

'Just a bit of a warning. If I decide to be your roommate, I will be tidying up the place until it's spotless and will hope that afterwards it remains somewhat clean most of the time. Would that bother you?'

_Spotless? It wasn't that messy now, right? Not like unbearable. Deidara's eyes had followed Itachi's gaze and of course knew it was a bit of a mess, but he had cleaned up before. More like thrown everything into his own bedroom and hopefully he could still go in after this. But he just waved Itachi's words aside and shrugged. _

_'Sure, I'll help out with cleaning everything up. Shouldn't be that much work.' Once more he glanced through the place, thinking it needed some color, but his landlord had forbidden him from painting the walls. Bastard. _

_'Let's check out your room now,' he said a little more excited and pulled on Itachi's hand, walking over to the door opposite of his own. 'I actually never used it, so it might be a little dusty, but other than that it should look good,' he said with a smile and then opened the door. _

_Inside was quite a plain looking bedroom. A single bed without sheets, a small cabinet where clothes could go and a nightstand next to the bed. The rest was up to Itachi to decorate. At the end was a small window through which some light filtered through, but even that was quite dusty._

At least the room didn't look like a rainbow vomited all over it. Itachi walked into the room and inspected it. It wasn't that bad at all. It wouldn't take long to clean it and actually make this space his very own. And he wouldn't have to deal with multiple idiots either, just one. Deidara did seem like an alright kind of guy. Just a slob and possibly a little irresponsible and a little out there. Living with him couldn't be that bad so long as they have mutual ground rules with each other.

'I'm surprised this room is only just dusty. I did expect it to be an utter mess.' He smirked. 'I'll be your roommate, but you will be helping me clean this apartment until it's spotless.'

_Casually Deidara leaned against the back wall, staring into the dusty room as he waited on Itachi to inspect the place. It was amazing how interested the guy already was, but this was a very good thing for Deidara. He truly needed that roommate. Rent was coming up and he couldn't afford it. His landlord wasn't that lenient either. _

_And then Itachi started talking about cleaning this place up and Deidara's face immediately took on an expression of disgust. Really? Didn't it look fine the way it did now? Well, Deidara could help with giving this place some color, but actually scrubbing it all till it was squeaky clean? Definitely a big no. _

_'We are not doing my room, because I can take care of that myself,' he immediately retorted. 'And since this is your room, you should take care of this. I kept out of it, because it wasn't mine.' And then his face turned a little more innocent, his blue eyes widening a little and his lips forming a pout. 'But I can help you out with actually brightening up the place.'_

Itachi lifted an eyebrow at the man and scoffed. 'I don't even want to imagine what your room looks like. And of course only I will be tidying up this room and I'd also expect you to keep out of it.' He smirked. 'But yes, you will be helping me out on brightening up the place.' Itachi turned to walk out of the room, his decision made. Now the only thing to figure out was rent and how he'd be able to contribute.

'I should be able to help with my half this month but I do need to find some kind of job in order to keep up with it.' Now that he was actually deciding on living here, he needed to find a job asap. He would never stoop so low as to tell Deidara he couldn't pay for some months rent and ask him to help.

_Deidara's jaw dropped when Itachi mentioned how messy his room would be, which was entirely not true, except for today since he stuffed all his shit there. And also not trusting him with going into his room? Jezus, like Deidara was going to mess everything up here. Such faith..._

_'Whatever, man. If I'm helping out with brightening up this place, then I can choose which paint colors we get. And you can paint your room on your own.' He flicked his long blond hair back over his shoulder, looking a little arrogant, but Deidara could pull it off, in his own opinion of course._

_Then at the mentioning of getting a job Deidara raised an eyebrow. The guy looked like some rich kid, but actually needed to work? Interesting... Maybe he could bring him to his job without mentioning what kind of bar it was... On the inside Deidara was now definitely smirking. _

_'Well, I'm a bartender at a local bar. You can check it out sometime with me and see if you like it. The hours are of course a little tough, but easy to plan in with your studies and the pay is great.'_

'So long as the colors aren't horrendous like orange then I don't care.' Itachi didn't want to be walking into his new home and get blinded by the bright shitty colors assaulting his sensitive eyes. He ignored Deidara's little prissy fit when the blonde mentioned where he worked.

'You work at a bar?' The idea of working at a bar didn't seem that bad. And if the pay was great then Itachi would look into it, and hopefully get himself a position there. 'What's it called and where is it located? I'll try to stop by later to try and speak to the manager.'

Maybe the only thing Itachi might not be to thrill about is if he did land this job, then he'd probably be working alongside with Deidara. Not that he hated the man, he just...didn't think he could handle him in large doses. Wasn't it enough that he'd be living with him?

_So judgmental... Did Deidara look like someone who would use orange to color a room? I think not. That was more a thing for his little brother who absolutely adored the color orange and therefore was never allowed to decorate any room, ever. _

_'You just watch. You will be astonished when you see this place after I give it a bit of color. If I let you be in charge it will probably end up all white and plain. Too many pastel colors.' And then when something would get dirty it would immediately stick out. No, he would give it some thought and actually make the place a little more inviting. _

_The fact that Itachi seemed genuinely interested in where he worked definitely pleased Deidara. Oh, he was going to shock this guy so badly and since he wasn't asking anything about what kind of bar it was, Deidara didn't have to tell either. _

_'It's about a five minute walk right in the centre of this town. It can compete with the really big clubs, but we have a lot of regulars, so it's always crowded. Oh, and the place is called Wonders.' Deidara was pretty sure that once Itachi saw the bar, he would definitely not want to work there. Of course the people were incredibly friendly there, but yeah, as the bartender costumers hit on you and in this case those costumers would be male... Deidara was definitely okay with that, but was Itachi?_

'White and pastel colors? No. White is good here and there, but I like dark rich colors like royal blue.' Did he really look like the type who would like pastel colors? But whatever, so long as it wasn't ugly, annoying colors, Itachi really didn't care what the blonde did.

A small surprised, yet pleased, look settled on his face. That was very close and very convenient. But the name was left much to be desired...'I see. How long have you been working there? And I think I'll head over there now too. You coming?' Itachi had already started heading for the door, a little eager to see this bar. It really would be great if he got a job there since it was so very close.

_Royal blue? Interesting... Still not the color Deidara would go for, but it was more interesting than pastel. 'You must like purple as well then,' he answered, still having an eyebrow raised at the comment on colors. At least Deidara was still in charge, because he would definitely not paint this place royal blue. Maybe a sea green or turquoise. _

_Oh, this was going even faster than expected, which made Deidara all the more excited. Like he wanted to miss Itachi's reaction to this place. 'Hell yeah, I'm coming. It's not like you can find it on your own.' Perfect excuse. 'And I've been working there ever since I started college. Best place to be.' He was already by the door by the time Itachi got there and he prayed he didn't look too eager. This was going to be so much fun..._

Itachi didn't respond to Deidara's comment of him liking purple. Right now he was more interested in seeing this bar and hoping to find employment there. However he was starting to wonder if he should of invited Deidara along...the blonde seemed a little eager. Itachi would be pissed if Deidara embarrassed him there...but the man did work there so all should turn out alright.

Suddenly Itachi felt very suspicious but decided to ignore it. He needed a job if he wanted to live in this apartment. Without a word he followed Deidara, letting him lead the way to Wonders.

Really, that was such a gay name.

Characters © Masashi Kishimoto

Let me know what you think!


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